Aiken Rhett House Museum

There is SO much history to explore in Charleston, and a great place to visit is the Aiken Rhett House Museum, built by a merchant in 1820.

So why is Aiken Rhett House a historically significant part of history? Well, it's nationally significant as one of the best preserved townhouse complexes in the entire nation. Even more excited to visit?

From it's 1820 beginnings, the Aiken-Rhett House Museum was expanded in the 1830s, and again int he 1850s. During your self-guided tour of the house you can explore the main house, as well as the outbuildings, its kitchen, carriage block and even original slave quarters.

Many dependency buildings in Charleston were actually demolished or adapted, and these Aiken-Rhett slave quarters are still virtually untouched since the 1850s, with the original paint, floors and fixtures.

You can feel the stories and the history all around you, and a unique chance to comprehend the every-day realities of the enslaved Africans who lived there, catering to the needs of the Aiken family.

Surviving furnishings still fill the house, and really give you an incredible portrait of urban life in antebellum Charleston, as well as those key roles in society at that time - the Southern politician, the slaveholder and the industrialist.

After being in the Aiken family for 142 years, it was sold to the Charleston Museum and opened to the public in 1975, and since then families have been enjoying a literal walk through the history books in this great Southern city.

So step into the shoes of a 19th century Charleston family, and LIVE history!